U.S. patent application number 09/855509 was filed with the patent office on 2002-11-21 for method for increasing resolution of mouse movement on screen.
Invention is credited to Hu, Ken-Pei, Shen, Yao-Sheng.
Application Number | 20020171622 09/855509 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25321430 |
Filed Date | 2002-11-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20020171622 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Shen, Yao-Sheng ; et
al. |
November 21, 2002 |
Method for increasing resolution of mouse movement on screen
Abstract
A process for increasing resolution of mouse movement on
computer screen comprises the steps of moving a mouse to cause two
beams of light emitted from light emitting elements to be detected
by photodetectors, converting the light into two sequential
sinusoidal analog signals having a phase difference therebetween,
activating an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to perform an
analog-to-digital conversion on the analog signals with respect to
at least three predetermined references respectively, generating a
series of integer in response to each analog signal passes two
adjacent ones of the references, representing the series of integer
as a step wave having a plurality of steps each representing an
integer, and creating a coordinate comparison table with respect to
the integers of the step wave, whereby there are at least six
chances to determine change of coordinate with respect to a cursor
moving on the screen during one movement cycle of the mouse.
Inventors: |
Shen, Yao-Sheng; (Taipei,
TW) ; Hu, Ken-Pei; (Taipei Hsien, TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BACON & THOMAS, PLLC
625 Slaters Lane, 4th Floor
Alexandria
VA
22314-1176
US
|
Family ID: |
25321430 |
Appl. No.: |
09/855509 |
Filed: |
May 16, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
345/156 ;
345/163 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 3/038 20130101;
G06F 3/0383 20130101; G06F 3/03543 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
345/156 ;
345/163 |
International
Class: |
G09G 005/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A process for increasing resolution of a mouse movement on a
computer screen, said process comprising the steps of: a) moving a
mouse to cause two beams of light emitted from light emitting
elements to be detected by photodetectors; b) converting said light
into two sequential sinusoidal analog signals having a phase
difference therebetween; c) activating an analog-to-digital
converter (ADC) to perform an analog-to-digital conversion on said
analog signals with respect to at least three predetermined
references respectively; d) generating a series of integer in
response to each analog signal passes two adjacent ones of said
references; e) representing said series of integer as a step wave
having a plurality of steps each representing an integer; and f)
creating a coordinate comparison table with respect to said
integers of said step wave, whereby there are at least six chances
to determine change of coordinate with respect to a cursor moving
on said screen during one movement cycle of said mouse.
2. The process of claim 1, wherein said step of b) further
comprises the step of b1) activating an integral circuit to convert
said detected analog signals by said light emitting elements into
triangular signals prior to sending said triangular signals to said
ADC.
3. The process of claim 1, further comprising a control circuit for
generating said references so that said ADC is capable of
performing said analog-to-digital conversion on said analog signals
with respect to said references.
4. The process of claim 3, wherein said control circuit comprises a
setting circuit for generating a plurality of different
predetermined references and a switching circuit having a plurality
of switches being electrically connected to said setting circuit so
that one of said switches is operative to cause said control
circuit to generate a plurality of predetermined references wherein
number of said references in one generation is different from that
of said other generation.
5. The process of claim 1, wherein said references are voltage
levels.
6. The process of claim 1, wherein values of integers of said
series of integer are increased progressively.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to computer mouse and more
particularly to a method for increasing resolution of mouse
movement on screen.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The major components of a conventional mouse 10 and diagrams
for illustrating the operating characteristics thereof are shown in
FIGS. 1 to 6. The mouse 10 comprises a ball 101, two grating
mechanisms 102 each including a grating disc 122 coupled to one end
of a roller 112 and perpendicular thereto and each roller 112
rotatably contacting ball 101 such that a rotation of ball 101 may
cause roller 112 and thus grating disc 122 to rotate, two
photosensor devices 103 each adjacent to grating mechanism 102 and
including two light emitting elements 113 and two photodetectors
123 with grating disc 122 located therebetween, and a control
circuit 104 electrically connected to photosensor devices 103. In
use, grating disc 122 is rotated as ball 101 is rotated. Further,
light emitted from light emitting elements 113 passes through the
rotating grates of grating disc 122 to be detected by
photodetectors 123. The detected signals are sent to control
circuit 104. And in turn the signals are sent to central processing
unit (CPU) on an electronic device (e.g., mainboard of computer)
coupled to mouse 10. The signals are processed in CPU for
generating a cursor control output including direction and distance
of cursor moved on an output device 14 (e.g., computer screen
coupled to the electronic device) for showing the position of
cursor on the output device 14.
[0003] Typically, light emitted from light emitting elements 113
detected by photodetectors 123 is converted into sinusoidal analog
signals (e.g., potential signals) by photodetectors 123 (FIGS. 2a,
2b, 3a, 3b and 6). Analog signals are further converted into
digital signals by analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 15 of the
electronic device with respect to predetermined high and low levels
by the activated control circuit 104. In detail, the sinusoidal
signal passing the high level while higher than the low level is
converted into a digital signal represented by a binary value
(e.g., 1). Likewise, the sinusoidal signal passing the low level
while lower than the high level is converted into a digital signal
represented by another binary value (e.g., 0). As a result, a
digital output is generated in output device 14.
[0004] As known that the position of cursor on screen may be
represented by values on X and Y axes, i.e., coordinate. Also,
cursor moves a distance proportional to the movement of mouse.
Hence, the position of cursor may be controlled by the movement of
mouse 10. In a prior technique, control parameters associated with
the movement of mouse are classified as pixel control parameters
each representing corresponding pixels of a moving cursor on screen
when mouse moves a unit distance and coordinate control parameters
each representing corresponding coordinate of the moving cursor on
screen when mouse moves a unit distance. Typically, for changing
the moving speed of mouse on screen, user can program the mouse
driver for changing a predetermined movement ratio of mouse with
respect to cursor. Once the unit distance of the mouse movement is
changed, the corresponding pixels are changed accordingly. As a
result, the distance of mouse has to move for causing cursor to
move from a first position to a second position on screen is
reduced.
[0005] As to the control of coordinate of cursor, photosensor
devices 103 of mouse 10 are activated to detect the movement of
ball 101 in X and Y axes. An appropriate distance is set between
two sets of corresponding light emitting elements 113 and
photodetectors 123. Thus there is a phase difference between two
sequentially generated sinusoidal signals in photodetectors 123 due
to the rotation of grating of grating disc 122. In the example of
photosensor device 103 detecting a movement of mouse 10 with
respect to X axis, a sinusoidal signal X1 is generated by one
photodetector 123 of photosensor device 103 (FIG. 2a) and another
sinusoidal signal X2 is generated by the other photodetector 123 of
photosensor device 103 (FIG. 2b). The signals X1 and X2 are further
converted into digital representations as shown in FIGS. 3a and 3b
respectively by ADC 15. The digital representations of FIGS. 3a and
3b may be illustrated in coordinate comparison tables of FIGS. 4
and 5 respectively. In FIG. 4, as ball 101 moves along X-axis to
the left a cyclic set containing four coordinate values
(0,0).fwdarw.(1,0).fwdarw.(1- ,1).fwdarw.(0,1) plus returning to
(0,0) is generated with respect to (X1, X2). In contrast as shown
in FIG. 5, as ball 101 moves along X-axis but to the right another
cyclic set containing four coordinate values
(0,0).fwdarw.(0,1).fwdarw.(1,1).fwdarw.(1,0) plus returning to
(0,0) is generated with respect to (X1, X2). In view of above,
there are four chances to determine the change of coordinate with
respect to the range of pixel of cursor moving on screen during one
mouse movement cycle.
[0006] Recently, the price of a monitor with high resolution and
large screen is reduced significantly. Hence, more people,
especially users involved in computer graphics and computer aided
design, desire to buy such monitor due to high quality produced
works and less frequent eye fatigue after a long time of use. But
user is required to frequently move cursor from one position to the
other position on screen. Thus user typically programs the mouse
driver for changing a predetermined movement ratio of mouse with
respect to cursor. For example, if the number of pixels of a high
resolution screen is two times as that of a low resolution screen
once mouse moves a unit distance the movement distance of cursor on
the high resolution screen is only half of that on the low
resolution screen. It is also possible to change above ratio for
causing the number of pixels of cursor moved on screen to be double
with respect to one unit movement of mouse. This can cause a
movement distance of cursor observed on the high resolution screen
to be the same as that on the low resolution screen under the
condition of same screen size. But there is no improvement to above
fact, i.e., there are only four chances to determine the change of
coordinate with respect to the range of pixel of cursor moving on
screen during one mouse movement cycle. To the worse, the number of
pixels required to determine a change of coordinate of cursor is
double. This may cause a high resolution screen user to be
incapable of positioning cursor on screen precisely, thus lowering
the resolution of mouse movement on screen.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a
process for increasing resolution of a mouse movement on a computer
screen, the process comprising the steps of a) moving a mouse to
cause two beams of light emitted from light emitting elements to be
detected by photodetectors; b) converting the light into two
sequential sinusoidal analog signals having a phase difference
therebetween; c) activating an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to
perform an analog-to-digital conversion on the analog signals with
respect to at least three predetermined references respectively; d)
generating a series of integer in response to each analog signal
passes two adjacent ones of the references; e) representing the
series of integer as a step wave having a plurality of steps each
representing an integer; and f) creating a coordinate comparison
table with respect to the integers of the step wave, whereby there
are at least six chances to determine change of coordinate with
respect to a cursor moving on the screen during one movement cycle
of the mouse.
[0008] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become apparent from the following detailed
description taken with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the interior of a
conventional mouse;
[0010] FIG. 2a is a diagram of a sinusoidal signal generated by one
photodetector of photosensor device;
[0011] FIG. 2b is a diagram of a sinusoidal signal generated by the
other photodetector of photosensor device;
[0012] FIG. 3a is a diagram of digital representation of FIG.
2a;
[0013] FIG. 3b is a diagram of digital representation of FIG.
2b;
[0014] FIG. 4 is a coordinate table representing a cyclic set
containing binary values generated when ball moving along X-axis to
the left;
[0015] FIG. 5 is a coordinate table representing a cyclic set
containing binary values generated when ball moving along X-axis to
the right;
[0016] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the signal detecting,
conversion and output performed by the FIG. 1 mouse;
[0017] FIG. 7a is a diagram of square wave representation of a
signal generated by a first preferred embodiment of method
according to the invention;
[0018] FIG. 7b is a diagram of square wave representation of
another signal generated by the first preferred embodiment of FIG.
7a;
[0019] FIG. 8 is a coordinate table representing a cyclic set
containing integer values generated when ball moving along X-axis
to the left or right of the first preferred embodiment;
[0020] FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the signal detecting,
conversion and output performed by a mouse according to the
invention;
[0021] FIG. 10a is a diagram of a signal having triangular
waveforms generated by one photodetector of photosensor device
employed by a second preferred embodiment of method according to
the invention;
[0022] FIG. 10b is a diagram of a signal having triangular
waveforms generated by the other photodetector of photosensor
device employed by the method illustrated in FIG. 10a;
[0023] FIG. 11a is a diagram of square wave representation of FIG.
10a;
[0024] FIG. 11b is a diagram of square wave representation of FIG.
10b; and
[0025] FIG. 12 is a coordinate table representing a cyclic set
containing integer values generated when ball moving along X-axis
to the left or right of the second preferred embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0026] The invention relates to a process for increasing resolution
of mouse movement on computer screen comprises the steps of moving
a mouse to cause two beams of light emitted from light emitting
elements to be detected by photodetectors, converting the light
into two sequential sinusoidal analog signals having a phase
difference therebetween, activating an analog-to-digital converter
(ADC) to perform an analog-to-digital conversion on the analog
signals with respect to at least three predetermined references
respectively, generating a series of integer in response to each
analog signal passes two adjacent ones of the references,
representing the series of integer as a step wave having a
plurality of steps each representing an integer, and creating a
coordinate comparison table with respect to the integers of the
step wave, whereby there are at least six chances to determine
change of coordinate with respect to a cursor moving on the screen
during one movement cycle of the mouse.
[0027] A first preferred embodiment of method in accordance with
the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9. When mouse moves,
again referring to FIG. 1, two beams of light emitted from light
emitting elements 113 are detected by photodetectors 123. Then the
light is converted into two sequential sinusoidal signals (i.e.,
analog signals having predetermined amplitudes) having a phase
difference therebetween. Referring to FIG. 9, such analog signals
are further sent to ADC 23. Then ADC 23 performs an
analog-to-digital conversion on the analog signals with respect to
four predetermined references provided by control circuit 24. An
integer is generated when the analog signal passes two adjacent
references. Hence, a series of integer is generated in response to
the analog signal. That is, a square wave is generated. This may be
best illustrated in FIGS. 7a and 7b with respect to signals X1 and
X2 respectively. Further, a coordinate comparison table is created
with respect to above values in FIGS. 7a and 7b.
[0028] As shown, in the case that photodetectors 123 detect a
movement of mouse with respect to X axis, a sinusoidal signal X1 is
generated by one photodetector 123 of photosensor device 103 (FIG.
2a) and another sinusoidal signal X2 is generated by the other
photodetector 123 of photosensor device 103 (FIG. 2b). The signals
X1 and X2 are further converted into digital representations with
respect to four predetermined references. Hence, a series of
integer (i.e., square wave) is generated in response to each of the
signals X1 and X2 as illustrated in FIGS. 7a and 7b. Further, a
coordinate comparison table is created in FIG. 8 with respect to
above values in FIGS. 7a and 7b. Referring to the table, as ball
101 moves along X-axis to the left a cyclic set containing eight
coordinate values
(1,0).fwdarw.(2,0).fwdarw.(3,1).fwdarw.(3,2).fwdarw.(2,-
3).fwdarw.(1,3).fwdarw.(0,2).fwdarw.(0,1).fwdarw. . . . is
generated with respect to (X1, X2). In contrast, as ball 101 moves
along X-axis to the right a cyclic set containing eight coordinate
values
(0,1).fwdarw.(0,2).fwdarw.(1,3).fwdarw.(2,3).fwdarw.(3,2).fwdarw.(3,1).fw-
darw.(2,0).fwdarw.(1,0).fwdarw. . . . is generated with respect to
(X1, X2). In view of above, there are eight chances to determine
the change of coordinate with respect to the range of cursor moving
on screen during one mouse movement cycle.
[0029] In the case that the resolution of a monitor has been
adjusted from low resolution mode to high resolution mode prior to
moving mouse, user can program the mouse driver for changing a
predetermined movement ratio of mouse with respect to cursor. For
example, as mouse moves a unit distance the number of pixels of
cursor moved on screen is two times. This can reduce the movement
distance of mouse as cursor moves from one position to the other
position on screen. Also, there are eight chances to determine the
change of coordinate with respect to the range of pixel of cursor
moving on high resolution screen during one mouse movement cycle.
Hence, the required number of pixels for determining the change of
coordinate on a high resolution screen of cursor is the same as
that on a low resolution screen. Hence, user still can position
cursor on screen precisely, thus significantly increasing the
resolution of mouse movement on screen.
[0030] As shown in FIGS. 7a and 7b, analog signals are converted
into square waves with respect to four predetermined references.
Coordinate values of (X1, X2) is cyclically changed, i.e.,
(1,0).fwdarw.(2,0).fwdarw-
.(3,1).fwdarw.(3,1).fwdarw.(3,2).fwdarw.(2,3).fwdarw.(2,3).fwdarw.(1,3).fw-
darw.(0,2).fwdarw.(0,2).fwdarw.(0,1).fwdarw.(1,0).fwdarw. . . .
,during one mouse movement cycle. Since, in reviewing to the above
cyclically changed coordinate values, the distance to go through
from one coordinate value to another coordinate value of one cursor
is not the same during one mouse movement cycle. This may hinder
the movement of cursor.
[0031] In a second preferred embodiment of the invention as shown
in FIGS. 10a and 10b in conjunction with FIG. 9, two sequential
analog signals detected by photodetectors 123 are sent to integral
circuit 21 for converting into triangular signals. The triangular
signals are in turn sent to ADC 23. Then ADC 23 performs an
analog-to-digital conversion on the signals with respect to four
predetermined references provided by control circuit 24. An integer
is generated when the signal passes two adjacent references. Hence,
a series of integer is generated in response to the analog signal.
That is, a square wave is generated. This may be best illustrated
in FIGS. 11a and 11b with respect to signals X1 and X2
respectively. Further, a coordinate comparison table is created
with respect to above values in FIGS. 11a and 11b. As shown,
coordinate values of (X1, X2) is cyclically changed, i.e.,
(2,0).fwdarw.(2,0).fwdarw.(3,1).-
fwdarw.(3,1).fwdarw.(3,2).fwdarw.(3,2).fwdarw.(2,3).fwdarw.(2,3).fwdarw.(1-
,3).fwdarw.(1,3).fwdarw.(0,2).fwdarw.(0,2).fwdarw.(0,1).fwdarw.(0,1).fwdar-
w.(2,0).fwdarw.(2,0).fwdarw. . . . , during one mouse movement
cycle. Hence, the distance to go through from one coordinate value
to another coordinate value of one cursor is the same during one
mouse movement cycle.
[0032] As shown in FIG. 9, control circuit 24 comprises a setting
circuit for generating a variety of references. The setting circuit
is electrically connected to a plurality of switches on switching
circuit 25. As such, user may press a desired one of switches for
causing control circuit 24 to generate a plurality of references in
which the number of references in one setting may be different from
that of the other setting. In one example there are at least three
references generated by control circuit 24. Hence, ADC 23 may
perform an analog-to-digital conversion on the analog signals with
respect to the references respectively wherein a series of integer
is generated when the analog signal passes two adjacent references.
The series of integer is expressed as a step wave having a
plurality of steps each representing an integer. A coordinate
comparison table is created with respect to the integers of the
step wave. Hence, there are at least six chances to determine the
change of coordinate with respect to the cursor moving on screen
during one mouse movement cycle. As a result, the resolution of
mouse movement on screen is significantly increased.
[0033] While the invention has been described by means of specific
embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made
thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the
scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.
* * * * *